Unravelling the Silk Road

Three textile roads tangle their way through Central Asia. The famous Silk Road united east and west through trade. Older still was the Wool Road, of critical importance when houses made from wool enabled nomads to traverse the inhospitable winter steppes. Then there was the Cotton Road, marked by greed, colonialism and environmental disaster.



At this intersection of human history, fortunes were made and lost through shimmering silks, life-giving felts and gossamer cottons. Chris Aslan, who has spent fifteen years living and working in the region, expertly unravels the strands of this tangled history and embroiders them with his own experiences of life in the heart of Asia.



Chris Aslan was born in Turkey and spent his childhood there and in war-torn Beirut. He lived in the deserts and mountains of Central Asia for 15 years, and still returns regularly to the region. Chris is currently based in the UK but is planning a move to North Cyprus.